Now that the British Lung Foundation has reduced support to the Breathe Easy groups because of the desire to concentrate resources on research we now have to rely on local printers or our own printers to produce the flyers for our meetings.I suggest that we run a support group for Breathe Easy on this blog. For example if we can obtain discounts from Staples we could all use them to our advantage . ALso how do we produce Poster size prints as my little printer is not suitable.

WE joined a group called IN Kind direct who are a charity who sell end of lines and discontinued items at a fraction of normal cost . and purchased a reconditioned laptop for £150.00

17 Replies

Good post Hawkeye0208. The support is always there for its members where breathe easy groups continue, generally the groups are run by its members and fund themselves.

The group I attend has always had to print its own newsletters and raise funds to cover costs of hall hire etc, so nothing much has changed on that score.

Regarding the newsletter what I do is get a copy ready for printing, then just photocopy the amount of copies required depending on members attending or registered. It works out cheaper to photocopy pages than to have them printed generally. I photocopy the original pages in black and white to keep costs down. The library is often the cheapest cost per page in my area.

A4 colour posters for doctor's surgeries (any larger takes up too much space on their noticeboard). Even A5 size would keep the costs down and still quite noticeable on surgery noticeboards.

A3 full colour posters are expensive to produce, even colour photocopies are, but when out fund raising these may be more easily seen by the passing public.

Costs for running the group (including promotional costs, newsletters, posters etc) can be recovered from the funds raised.

Wishing you every success with your group and thanks for sharing tips and posting this.

Hope so BlakeyC. My COPD Nurse is such a lovely person and helps there. I would so like to give something back in appreciation.

4 years agoHidden

A lot of the speakers give their time free of charge but this can mean their paid work comes first and may cancel, mostly their travel expenses come out of funds but not all., but then we have speakers coming from far and wide, not always local. Our community matron visits from time to time so we are very lucky to have her come to talk to the group, whenever she has free time or between home visits.

Most all who attend do bring something to the group, indeed without that the group would not be able to continue.

You can discuss things about Breathe Easy which we quite often do. Have a word with Mark the moderator about setting up a support group on this site.and what would be required from members Having tried to help members previously on their behalf for a long long time I feel that new input might have more success than I had. I wish you all well in your endeavours

KOTC

4 years agoHidden

the support is here already, this is a discussion and support for breathe easy, right here on this discussion post. For anyone who wants to share and support it.

I have replied to BlakeyC about your query a support group on this site which I would like you to read.

Some members of Breathe Easy already post/PM about their groups ,as I do myself.

4 years agoHidden

There is no reason why we need to have a separate group to discuss this. Why boycott this post KOTC? We are discussing Breathe Easy on this post and sharing content for anyone who wants to add to it. Previous conversations have no bearing on this post.

Who said anything about boycotting the post, I certainly did not. I suggest you get your facts correct. In fact all I have done is wish everyone well that wants to pursue any form of discounts etc. as stated in HAWKEYE0208 post. I am the biggest promoter of the BLF's Breathe Easy on this site. and will always do my best for Breathe Easy in any shape or form.

Dear all it is always a good idea to contact your local council as they may be able to point you in the right direction for getting funding. I would also consider contacting your local council for voluntary services as they will put your information onto there websites. Some charities may let you share their premises at a reduced cost so always good to scout around.

Although the principal of the breatheasy groups are good it is very difficult to sustain as they are generally run by people who have conditions and are ill a lot of the time. Getting healthy volunteers could be a way round this but without the support of the BLF I cannot see how that could be achieved safety.

Is there a protacol for the breath easy groups as I felt with a local group that I attended it was run soley for the ego of the individuals running it and not with members needs considered.

all the people involved in running the groups are doing it for free and the time they give is invaluable so although I sound critical I dont believe it is an easy job for them.

thats all for now but happy to take part in discussions on this matter

4 years agoHidden

That is very sad to hear about the group near you, I couldn't abide being with a group of people who are only in it for ego. that would really put me off and I would probably end up not attending or offering services. But you are right it is so difficult for ill people to keep the group going.

4 years agoHidden

Salvation Army Hall usually give good rates to registered charities, for hall hire. But no gambling or alcohol on the premises, that means, no raffles or parties with a tipple or swimsuit or undergarment fashion shows ;), but the general friendly cuppa and a chat acceptable and instead of a raffle a bring and buy table sale is the way around it.

Some Breathe Easy groups have created their own web site too, which could be an alternative to newsletter production except not every member may have access to the internet.

4 years agoHidden

For those producing a newsletter for their Breathe Easy group, Stitch has just posted about the Silver Line helpline, details below and a link to her post to read more about it: